Wary of Iran Jitters, Israel Announces Missile Test - the Express Tribune
Israel took the unusual precaution of announcing on Thursday that it would soon test-fire a ballistic interceptor missile, hoping to avoid stoking war tensions with Iran.
Missile trials from a launch base near Tel Aviv, most recently in November, were not published in advance. As a result, the first Israeli media reports on them were based on often breathless witness accounts, rocking world energy markets until defense officials provided explanations.
State-run Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) said in a statement that it would conduct its first test of the Arrow 3, a system developed in cooperation with the United States to shoot down ballistic missiles in space, “in the near future.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made veiled threats to attack Iran should diplomacy fail to rein in its nuclear program. US President Barack Obama, whom Netanyahu will visit next week, wants to pursue sanctions for now and has voiced concern about the risk of an Israeli-Iranian war.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Arrow 3 test would entail firing a missile into space from Palmachim base south of Tel Aviv. It would take place after Monday’s White House talks between Obama and Netanyahu.
“Yes, it’s new,” the official told Reuters about the decision to issue the IAI statement on Thursday.
“We want to avoid misunderstandings.”
The official confirmed Israel wanted to limit the risk of aggravating the stand-off with Iran. Tehran denies seeking nuclear weaponry and has vowed to retaliate for any attack with missile strikes against Tel Aviv and US assets in the Gulf.